MHAL hoops preview: Onteora girls look to upset Wallkill

Three of the four teams in Thursday's Mid-Hudson Athletic League basketball championships are no stranger to the big game.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

Three of the four teams in Thursday's Mid-Hudson Athletic League basketball championships are no stranger to the big game.

On the boys' side, Marlboro and Pine Plains will square off for the second straight season. Marlboro won last year's game 58-43, giving the program its first MHAL title.

The Wallkill girls are in a final for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

The newcomer to the MHAL's biggest stage are the Onteora girls, who will play in the championship for the first time since 2001. The Indians had a drought from 2004-12, qualifying for the semifinals just once. That one game was a 57-36 loss to Wallkill in 2009.

Onteora gets another shot in the finals thanks to its 49-42 semifinal victory on Tuesday over John A. Coleman Catholic, the five-time defending Section 9 champion and the No. 7-ranked Class B team in the state. Junior point guard Julia Occhi led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Indians led by as many as 13 points in the convincing semifinal win.

"It means a lot as a coach that my girls play hard enough that they can beat a team of that caliber," Onteora coach Andy Occhi said after Tuesday's game. "As a coach, you want your team to play hard, win or lose. That's what I'm proud of most. They play hard and they play together."

Wallkill, ranked No. 10 in the state in Class A, avenged its only loss of the season with a 60-42 semifinal victory over Marlboro. The Panthers were especially stout on defense, holding Marlboro to 13 first-half points and not allowing a 2-point field goal until the third quarter.

Onteora players watched Wallkill win as they waited for their own game to start, so they know their first trip to the finals in more than a decade won't be easy.

"We watched their game," said junior guard Adrianna Decicco. "I think they're definitely better than Coleman, so we'll have to step up and play hard to win."

"I have a group of girls that may not be the most talented, but they play very hard and they play together," said Andy Occhi, whose team is ranked No. 23 in the state in Class B. "That makes up for maybe not a lot of experience."

Marlboro (12-4) and Pine Plains (15-2), the defending Section 9 Class C champion, have met once since last year's MHAL final. The two teams played in the Newburgh Free Academy showcase on Dec. 8, with Marlboro needing overtime to pull out a 68-62 victory.

Pine Plains, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class C, lost 11 days later to Green Tech, a charter school in Albany ranked No. 23 in Class AA, but the Bombers have won 13 straight since.

Marlboro lost four in a row during a 13-day span in January and February, but the Dukes are riding a four-game winning streak into the final.

To prep for Pine Plains' size, Marlboro practiced against six teammates on Wednesday. Pine Plains forward Zach Lydon is 6-foot-9. His brother, Tyler, is 6-8 and forward Adam Miller is 6-7. Senior point guard Justin Cooper is 6-3.

"We know it's a tough match up," Marlboro guard Matt Tamburri said. "The size is going to be tough. When we went against six players in practice, they were fast, they were all over the place. That's how it's going to be. We know we have to work for it."